Apt Medium is an Australian business. Prices are in Aussie Dollars.

Discovery Assessment - $75.00

For manuscripts exceeding 150,000 words, please contact me.

A Stamped Self-Addressed Envelope (SSAE) of the appropriate size and postal rate must be included for return of your manuscript and the Assessment Report.

File Submissions for Assessment (Email attachment or CD) - only for Full Assessments
If you would like to send your manuscript as an electronic file, you are welcome to submit that way. BUT, please be aware it incurs an additional fee of $30. This covers paper and ink for printing, as well as return postage of your printed and marked-up manuscript and Assessment Report. Contact me to make arrangements for the additional payment.

Work does not begin until payment is received.

Payment methods:
Australian Money Order or Cheque, or PayPal to pay securely by credit card (you do not need a PayPal account). You can also contact me to arrange a direct deposit from your bank.

PayPal Option - Please visit the Store, where you can select and pay for the appropriate word count assessment.

The Benefits of an Assessment

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Writing is a learning, as well as creative experience. Publishers and Literary Agents understand this, but only to a degree. They are busy people. Most will not read past the first couple of pages if typos or misused words and lousy grammar spoil the reading experience. When submitting manuscripts for consideration, your work needs to be presented in a professionally accepted form. It has to be the very best you can offer, not only to be fully read, but also to compete with the multitude of submissions sent to publishers and agents every week.

It is a daunting challenge to aspiring writers is having their manuscript stand out from the others in the pile on a publisher’s desk. If your aim is publication, an assessment (or appraisal) provides unbiased and objective assistance. It recognises strengths in your writing and addresses any areas that need improvement.

Writing from the heart is fantastic. Unfortunately, our hearts do not have 20/20 vision when it comes to looking objectively at our own work, which is undertaken with passion and so much dedication. Too often, even when reviewing our writing for the umpteenth time, we read what we think should be on the page rather than what is actually there. We know the story in our minds, so well, that we neglect to inform our readers of all that is necessary for a thrilling journey into the world we create. Or, we distract them with superfluous detail and lose them along the way.

What I Provide

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I take pride in providing a detailed report on all aspects of what will make your manuscript a manuscript great read with a professional presentation. Gone are the days when a ‘rough’ manuscript will be accepted by a publisher, purely on the story’s merit. Criticism is not easily accepted by creative folk. However, my assessments are constructive as well as honest. There is no point in you sending your manuscript and me taking the time and effort to assess it if I gloss over what needs improvement. None of us learns by being patronised or when fed waffle to stroke our egos. I am a writer too. So, I will be gently honest while giving you suggestions on what aspects would benefit from attention.

As I read your manuscript, I mark-up the manuscript with comments, and take additional notes. These combined are used to write up the report, which takes into account all facets of the writing and manuscript development process.

Due to the amount of reading, all manuscripts are assessed using hardcopy, which also provides you with the marked-up pages for reference when your manuscript is returned.

NOTE: Proper formatting is essential for any and all submissions. It proves a serious and professional approach to the submission process. Go to my Formatting Tips.